The invention relates to the use of 3-aryl-thiazolo[3,2-a]benzimidazoles, 3-aryl-imidazo[2,1-b]thiazoles and structurally related compounds as antineoplastic agents and/or as enhancers of the immune response.
To suppress the growth and proliferation of neoplastic tissue in mammalian organisms radiation therapy and chemical therapy are frequently used as adjuncts to surgical removal of the neoplasm, and by themselves when surgery is not feasible or desirable.
The commonly used chemotherapeutic agents however, have a great deal of inherent cytotoxicity and thus are injurious to other tissues in the body as well as the neoplasm. They particularly affect rapidly proliferating cells and thus the body's immune response system is frequently affected and the organism's natural ability to resist infection and control the growth of immunologically incompatible cells impaired.
It has recently been reported to Nature New Biology, 240, 217 (1972), that 1-2,3,5,6-tetrahydro-6-phenyl-imidazo[2,1-b]thiazole (Levamisole) enhances the production of thymus lymphocytes (T-lymphocytes, thymocytes) and has the effect of suppressing metastases of Lewis Lung tumor implanted in mice. The present invention concerns the use of a series of compounds structurally different from Levamisole which have similar therapeutic properties.